Wrapping machines



N. W. LYON EI'AL WRAPPING MACHINES 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENToRs 'b/.wmvMII/M410 BYRoL/mmAZA//vf 7/.e4 ATTORNEYS Dec. 20, 1955 Filed NOV. 5,1948 Dec. 20, 1955 N. w. LYON HAL 2,727,344

WRAPPING MACHINES Filed Nov. 5, 1948 A9 I l@ @l 7 /I L lNvENToRJ 1Y0/wwwMlm# Mo BYmn/vaAJA/MS 4 ATTORNEYS Dec. 20, 1955 N. w. LYON ETAL2,727,344

WRAPPING MACHINES Filed Nov. 5, 1948 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTORS Mmm/v h/ra/v ,4A/a

BYjPoLA//DA LAB/N5 ATToR EYs Dec. 20, 1955 N. w. LYON ET Ax. 2,727,344

WRAPPING MACHINES Filed NOV. 5, 1948 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTORJ Mmm/yMlyoy. ,4f/a BYoLA/va A. LAB/,vf

-f ATTORNEYS Dec. 20, 1955 N. w. LYoN Erm. 2,727,344

WRAPPING MACHINES Filed NOV. 5, 1948 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 C* 7/ ATTORNEYSUnited States Patent Ofi 2,727,344 Patented Dec.` 20, 1955 ice WRAPPIN GNIACHINES Norman W. Lyon and Roland A. Labine, Springeld, Mass.,assignors to Package Machinery Company, East Longmeadow, Mass., acorporation of Massachusetts Application November 5, 1948, Serial No.58,592

1 Claim. (Cl. 53-111) This invention relates to an improvement inmachines for wrapping articles of irregular contour, and in which the'amount of wrapping paper drawn from the wrapper supply is automaticallyadjusted to the article on material being wrapped.

One object of the invention is to provide a machine for accurately andeffectively enclosing objects such as a tray piled with fruit orvegetables, or other loose articles, ina wrapper.

A further object is to provide means for drawing the wrapper tightly andsmoothly over an irregular surface, such as is represented by a pile ofarticles or a single article of irregular contour.

Another object is to provide means for wrapping such articles which inaddition are relatively yielding or deformable in character.

Other and further objects residing in the details of construction willbe pointed out in the following specification and claim.

In the accompanying drawings which show an illustrative embodiment ofthe invention,

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view, parts being broken away;

Fig. 2 is an end elevational view on a larger scale looking from theleft in Fig. 1

Figs. 3 to l() inclusive are fragmentary detail views showing successivesteps in the wrapping operation; and Fig. l1 is a View of a completelywrapped article.

Referring to Fig. l the frame 1 of the machine supports a substantiallyhorizontal table 2 along which trays t. of. vegetables or other articlesto be wrapped are advanced by a series of pushers 3 carried by conveyorchains 4. The table 2 is provided with side guides 5 between which thetrays are guided in their travel.

At' the delivery end of the table the end portion of a Wrapper web w isfed across the path of the advancing articles by means later described.As a tray is advanced to the end of the table the wrapper is clampedbetween the leading face of the tray and a clamping member 6 which isslidable against frictional resistance in guides 7 carried by arms 8extending from a hub 9 pivoted on a shaft 10. The arms 8 also supportelevator platform members 11 upon. which the trays are delivered by thepushers, the members 11 being spaced (Fig. 2) to permit the pushers topass downwardly between them.

As shown in Figs. 3 and 4 the depending portion p of the wrapper isfolded beneath and against the bottom of the tray by the forward edgesof the platform members 11 as the tray is pushed onto the platformagainst the frictional resistance of the member 6 in its guides.

As the tray advances onto the platform it enters between two foldingmembers 12, later more fully described, which fold the leading endextensions of the wrapper against the ends of the tray, and the articlescontained therein as indicated at a. The advance of the tray onto theplatform draws the wrapper web from its supply roll over a guide roll 13and beneath a draping roll 14 2 which is carried by arms 15 adjustablysecured to the shaft 10.

The arms 15 also carry a bar 16, positioned above roll 14, to which theupper edge portion of a flexible blanket member 17 is secured by anangle member 18 and screws 19. As shown in Figs. l and 3 the blankethangs downwardly and forwardly of rollA 14 in front of the wrapper web,and the tray and its contents in moving onto the elevator passes beneathroll 14 drawing the wrapper forwardly beneath roll 14 and blanket 17with the latter extending along the web as shown in Figs. 4 and 5. Inthis movement of the tray the wrapper is drawn snugly over the advancingface of the tray'and its contents and over the upper leading edge of thetray or its contents if the latter, as is frequently the case, extendsabove the edge of the tray. As the tray-isv seated on the elevator theroll 14, with blanket 17, starts to. swing downwardly tothe rear of thetray, as indicated in Fig. 6, carryingthe web down over the top and rearedge of the contents of the tray. Roll 14 withV blanket 17 movesdownwardly to the position shown in Fig. 7. ln the meantime the elevator15 starts its upward movement reaching the position shown in Fig. 7 asthe roll and blanket arrive at the position shown in the latter figure.

Both the elevator and roll 14 and the blankety move upwardly togetherfrom the positions of Fig. 7, the elevator moving at a fasterrate. Whenthe roll 14 reaches the dotted line position shown in Fig. 7 it dwellsuntil the elevator reachesthe position of Fig. 8. As the elevatorcontinues to move upwardly roll 14 starts to return to its lowermostposition, the parts coming to rest in the positionlof Fig. 9. Thistemporary upward movement of the roll 14 is to-ease the tension of thewrapper and slow the rate att which thewrapper is drawn from the rollduring the rapid upward movement of the elevator, the final downwardmovement ofthe roll withdrawing the amount of web needed to establishthe desired length of the underfold portion p for the next wrappingoperation.

The movement of theV roll and blanket, and of the elevator arecontrolled from a cam shaft 20, Figs. l and 2. One of the arms 15 whichcarry the roll 14 and blanket 17 extends from a split hub 21 which isclamped to shaft 10 by a screw 22 threaded in the hub. A short arm 23extends fromthe hub 21 and terminates inl a fork 24 in which a block 25is slidably fitted. An arm 26 is loosely mounted on shaft 10 and is heldin place by a collar 27. Intermediate its ends, arm 26l is provided witha stub shaft 28 carrying at one end an eccentric pin 29 extendingthrough an opening in block 25 and provided at the opposite end with aknurled head 30 by which the angular relation of arm 26 and the adjacentarm 15 may be adjusted. A notched lock pin 31 is drawn into clampingengagement with shaft 28 by a threaded knurled nut 32 (Fig. l) to holdthe shaft 28 in adjusted position. By the adjustment just described theextent of the downward movement of roll 14 can be nicely adjusted. Thefree end of arm 26 carries a camV roll 33 engaging in groove 34 ofa'positive motion cam 35 secured to shaft 20.

Extending from one of the elevator supporting arms 8 is an arm 36carrying a cam roll 37 engaging in a cam groove 38 in positive motioncam 39 by which the elevator is raised and lowered in timed relation totheV movement` imparted to roll 141 and blanket 17 by cam 35. The endfolders 12, previously mentioned, move with the elevator. The folders 12are carried by arms 40 which are pivoted on vertical pivot pins 41carried by bracket members 42. The bracket members, one of which isshown in Fig. 2,. are each formed with a hub 43 slidably mounted onshaft 10 and with a split hub 44 slidably engaging a rod 45 extendingfrom hub 9 of the elevator supporting arms.. A knurled screw 46 threadedinto the split hub holds the bracket in traversely adjusted position.The

bracket carries a yoke member 47, the sides of which straddle the arm 40and a spring 48 positioned between one side of the yoke 47, and arm 40normally maintains the folding members 12 in substantially parallelrelation. The folding 'members 12 are adapted to be separated slightlyto facilitate entrance of the tray between them by rotation of arms 4Gabout the pivots 41 within the limits permitted by yoke 47. This pivotalmovement is effected by bars 49 which are carried by arms 50 secured toa rock shaft 51. One arm 52 of a bellcrank lever mounted on shaft 51 isbolted at 53 to one of the arms 50. The other arm 54 of the levercarries a cam roll 55 engaging in a groove 56 of a positive motion cam57, mounted on shaft 29, by which shaft 51 is rocked to bring bars 49into engagement with rolls 5S carried by the ends of arms 40 and therebyswing the latter against the action of springs 48 to slightly separatethe folders 12 as the trays and wrapper enter between them.

As the elevator carries the tray upwardly and the roll 14 and blanket 17carry the wrapper downwardly the blanket, which is preferably formed ofsheet rubber, exerts a flexible, frictional drawing pressure whichshapes the wrapper over the irregular surface of the contents of thetray, Fig. 7. The upward swinging movement of the elevator tilts` thecontents of the tray to the left as viewed in Figs. 3 to l0 inclusive,with the result that the action of gravity tends to shift the contentsof the tray downwardly and to the left. At the same time the pullexerted on the wrapper by roll 14 and the frictional pressure of theblanket tends to shift the contents to the right. These opposing forcestend to balance each other and in the case of piled generally roundmieles such as cherries, apples and the like and loose' material such asspinach this balance of forces is important in maintaining a symmetricalpackage. The force exerted by the wrapper must be kept lightparticularly in the case of articles like ripe tomatoes, berries,shredded cabbage, spinach and mixed greens, and the slight gravitationalforce resulting from the tilting of the trays in one direction inopposition to the pull of the wrapper, combined with the gentlesmoothing action of the blanket has made it possible to wrap a widerange of vegetables, fresh fruits and various other foods and loosearticles rapidly and neatly. Transparent cellophane or the like is apreferred wrapping material.

As the elevator moves upwardly the tray and its contents are carriedbetween stationary top end folders 59, supported by frame members 60,which fold the top end extensions of the wrapper downwardly over thefolders 12 as indicated at b. It will be noted that the folders 12operated along the sides of the tray, that is at the lower portion ofthe package considered as a whole which allowed free shaping of thewrapper about the upper corners of the package and permitting thefolders 59 to freely gather the irregularities of the top end extensionsand fold them downwardly over the portions still held in place by .thefolders 12.

When the package is completely between the folders 59, the platform 11of the elevator has swung into alignment with the floor 61 of the finalwrapping channel as shown in Fig. 9. At this position the member 6 isengaged by a pair of a series of pairs of pusher members 62 carried byintermittently operated chains 63 and extending downwardly at eitherside ofV a light vertically movable central guide bar of conventionalform. The pushers 62 advance the partially wrapped tray and'its contentsfrom the elevator onto and, upon the subsequent movement of the pushers,along floor 61 of the folding channel. In the movement of the packagefrom the elevator the member 6 is returned by the pushers to its initialposition at the free edge of the elevator. l

As the package moves from the elevator a further amount of'wrapper webis drawn from the wrapper supply and the web is then cut as shown inFig. l0, after the iinal under fold is firmly held between the tray andfloor 61.

The cutting of the wrapper is effected by a knife 65 vroll by a spring 4carried by arms 66 pivoted at `67, the arms being formed with extensions68 connected by adjustable links 69 (Fig. l) to arms 70 of a bell cranksecured to a cross shaft 71. The arm 72 of the bell crank carries a camroll 73 engaging an edge cam 74 secured to the back of cam 35 on camshaft 29. A spring 75 holds the roll 73 against its cam. As shown inFig. 9 the downward looping of the wrapper web ,by roll 14 causes theblanket 17 to be bent sharply upward along the portion of the wrapperweb below the knife and as the web is severed the resilience of theblanket snaps the severed end portion of the web downwardly, freeing itfrom the knife and bringing it quickly and accurately into positionacross the path of the next incoming tray. The lowermost position orextent of travel of roll 14 carried by arms 15 is adjusted, as earlierdescribed by knurled knob 3f?, so as to acquire the desired length ofunderlap of the web w designated as p on the drawings. By accuratelysetting this adjustment, the length orV position of the underlap on thepackage may be obtained as desired.

As the pushers 62 advance the trays into the folding channel theelevator 11 swings downwardly, withdrawing the member 6. As the packagemoves into the channel, the leading end extensions of the wrapper areengaged by stationary folders 76 which fold the said extensionsrearwardly over the ends of the package and upon the succeedingmovements of the pushers the bottom end extensions are folded upwardlyby the inclined slot 77 formed between stationary folders 78 and 79 tocomplete the wrapping operation. The folding members 79 are extended andheated by any suitable means, not shown, to seal the wrapper folds inposition. From the Wrapping channel the packages are discharged onto ahorizontal conveyor 80.

The wrapper web is fed from a supply roll 81 freely mountedon asupporting shaft 82. A brake member 83 pivoted at 84 is drawn againstthe surface of the supply to prevent overrunning of the roll. From thesupply roll the web passes around a driven steel roll 86 and around atension roll 87 beneath a guide rod 8S and beneath conventional holdingmembers,V generally indicated at 89 and 9d to rolls 13 and 14 previouslymentioned. The roll 37 is carried at the lower ends of apair of levers,one of which is shown at 91', pivoted intermediate their ends at 92.They upper end of the lever 91 is connected to an adjustable spring 93,tending to draw the web into engagement with the surface of driven roll86. Lever 91 is provided with an arm 94 having an adjustable screw 95engaging one end of a lever 96 pivoted atv 97, the other end of thelever carrying a rubber roll 98. A spring 99 connected to a projection100 extending from the hub of lever 96 tends to rock lever 96 in adirection to cause roll 93 to press the web into Contact with drivenroll 86. As will be apparent the action of spring 99 opposes the actionof spring 93 while'ftension on the web at the roll 87 tends to overcomespring 93 and permit roll 9S to' engage the web and press it into drivencontact with the driven roll 86 by spring 99. Such forward feedingaction by roll 86 relieves the tension on the web at roll 87 therebypermitting spring 93 to relieve the pressure of roll 98 on roll 86. By.suitably adjusting screw 95v and the tension of spring 93 the desiredtension may be irnparted to the web as it is drawn out by the movementof the package and roll 14, and this tension will be uniformlymaintained with extreme uniformity by the tension coutrol devices justdescribed. For convenience in threading the paper through the machine adog 103 is provided which when `swung to the dotted line position inFig. l engages a shoulder .5.104 on lever 91 to hold roll 98 spaced fromroll 86. At the same time a pin 105 carried by dog 103 engages aprojection 106 of brake member 83 to move, and hold, the latter out ofcontact with'l the web supply roil. 4.

T he cam shaft 2t) is driven in any suitable manner as from an electricmotor 107, Fig. l, through belt 108, gear box 109, and sprocket chain110, driving a sprocket 111 secured to the shaft. Conveyor chains 4 areintermittently driven from shaft 20 through a gear 112 secured theretoand driving a gear 113 which carries one member of a geneva, the othermember of the geneva being carried by a gear 114. Gear 114 meshes with agear 115 secured to shaft 116 upon which the sprockets 117 of conveyorchains 4 are mounted.

The chains 63 to which pushers 62 are attached are intermittently drivenin timed relation to chains 4 and the Various cam operated members froma gear 118 (Fig. 2) through a gear-geneva-sprockct drive, not shown butsimilar to 113-114-117 just described, which drives chain 119 (Fig. 1)passing around sprocket 120 secured to shaft 121. Shaft 121 carriessprockets 122 which' drive the chains 63.

Roll 86 and discharge conveyor 8l) are conveniently driven from shaft 20by means of a sprocket chain 123, Fig. 1, connecting a sprocket 124 onshaft 20 and sprocket 125 on shaft 126 of conveyor S0, and engagingguide sprockets 127 and 12S and a sprocket 129 on shaft 130 to driveroll 86.

What we claim is:

ln a wrapping machine of the type which includes means to advance anarticle against the end portion of a Wrapper web and onto a carriermovable between an infeeding and delivery station to encircle thearticle in the leading end portion of the wrapper web; said carrier atthe infeeding station being in a horizontal position, means to swingsaid carrier upwardly from said position about a horizontal axisforwardly of the carrier to an inclined position at the deliverystation, a draping roll, means to move the draping roll downwardly tothe rear of the article on the carrier as the carrier is swung upwardly,an inclined folding channel aligned with the carrier at the deliverystation, means to move the article from the carrier into the foldingchannel, a flexible blanket member, and a common support for saidblanket member and the draping roll, said blanket member positioned tofollow in the path of the draping roll and overlie the wrapper web.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,140,522 Mettler May 25, 1915 1,508,637 Armstrong Sept. 16, 19241,626,379 Armstrong Apr. 26, 1927 1,953,097 Becker Apr. 3, 19341,993,488 Schmidt et al Mar. 5, 1935 2,060,501 Hoppe Nov. 10, 19362,260,332 Petskeyes Oct. 29, 1941

